Muffy Healey

I recently linked to an article that included a partial list of Willard Romney’s advisors, many of them delusional neocons. One of his advisors, however, is Kerry “Muffy” Healey, Romney’s former lieutenant governor.

Muffy was a delegate this year at the Massachusetts Republican state convention, but she lost to a Ron Paul supporter (heh). Muffy will not be going to the convention in Tampa. However, I remember reading that the Healeys moved to Florida. This article by Glen Johnson states that the Healeys were listed as switching their “domicile” to Florida. But, supposedly Muffy stated that her “residence” would be in Massachusetts.

Hmmm. Does this mean that Muffy might be pulling an Ann Coulter, voting in both Florida and another state? And also, I hope she really is registered to vote in Massachusetts, or else her being at the Massachusetts Republican state convention might have been illegal. (Thank God she lost her delegate status anyway, though.)

As I mentioned in this space a year ago, the Healeys purchased as their new Palm Beach home, a huge 9,775 sq. ft. mansion for $17 million. The Healeys also own another home in Florida, two homes in Massachusetts and one in Vermont. As Elizabeth Warren might say, “Good for them!”

Unfortunately, though, Muffy’s husband Sean took a pay cut last year from his job as CEO of Affiliated Managers Group, earning a measly $14.9 million, down from $20 million the year before. Oh, well. I guess they’ll have to cancel their cable subscription.

Prior to his job at Affiliated Managers Group, Sean Healey was a Goldman Sachs flunky. (Is that such a big surprise?) Muffy Healey has been once again on the campaign trail defending Willard Romney’s record as governor. The Goldman Sachs connections are so pervasive amongst all these political hacks now, I’m dizzy from it all. I’m sure if Romney is elected, he will put Muffy in his cabinet. Where, I don’t know. Perhaps Secretary of Treasury, given that she has a lot of money and doesn’t know what to do with it.

But it’s amazing to me how these political underlings, especially the women, get treated like a doormat by their political “bosses,” and they still go on to work for them and help the boss further his own political career. For example, during his last year as governor of Massachusetts, throughout the year 2006, Romney was already traveling all over the country “testing the waters” for a 2008 presidential run, as Romney’s lieutenant governor Muffy Healey took over many responsibilities for the office of governor. According to the Globe, Romney was an absentee governor for 212 days during the year 2006. And at that time, Muffy herself was running for governor, won the Republican nomination, but lost to Deval Patrick.

So, if Romney was so self-absorbed with his ambitious career moves and didn’t feel responsible to continue doing the job he was elected to do — for a whole year! — then shouldn’t he have just resigned as governor, and let Muffy take over as the official governor? Romney didn’t even do any campaigning for Muffy. Were I Muffy, I would have felt slightly taken advantage of.

But this was nothing new in Massachusetts. In 1988, then-governor Michael Stanley Dukakis was running for President. So obviously, Dukakis was also an absentee governor for two years. But did he step aside, resign, and let his lieutenant governor take over as governor? Nope. Evelyn Murphy was left there merely being the acting governor at various times when certain events called for it. So, were Murphy an incumbent governor during the election in 1990, it might have helped her campaign for governor.

But probably not. In January of 1991, there was a huge anti-tax rebellion going on. I remember hearing that, as Bill Weld was taking over the corner office, Michael Dukakis broke a long tradition, which was that the vacating governor would exit through the front doors of the State House, amid much fanfare and farewell. But, knowing that there was a huge crowd of Dukakis haters and protesters out front, Dukakis exited out the back doors of the State House on his last day. (Now, that is what I remember, particularly from the Jerry Williams Show, but it may be incorrect. I can’t find any references to it on the Internet.)

But things are different now. Despite all the destruction that these incompetent, narcissistic politicians cause, they are celebrated and cheered. (Bush and Obama, for instance.) And, despite the continual driving people out of the state that current Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick has been doing, I’m sure he will be cheered when he finally leaves the corner office. (I wonder if Howie Carr has any more of those “Don’t blame me, I voted for Muffy” bumper stickers.)